Delhi’s iconic Sadar Bazar market has now its own e-commerce website to help traders increase their businesses in a post Covid world
The iconic Sadar Bazaar, one of Delhi’s oldest markets, is now available for customers across the country in a digital avatar, sadar24.com.
People can now buy products from a long list of categories such as sports and fitness, home and kitchen at Sadar Bazaar prices. The website ships orders as low as INR 250/- free throughout the country with an aim “Har Ghar Sadar, Har Deal Gadar”.
The website aims to provide unorganized traders with an alternative for one of the biggest markets of Northern India, as footfall and sales had been severely impacted by the Covid enforced lockdown.
Shopkeepers say that their sales were severely affected by the pandemic. “Our sales had gone down by over 50% even after the market reopened post lockdown. “We lost out on our major shopping times during festivals like Diwali and Navratri, and now people prefer online shopping more than coming to the market. The crowd has dwindled”, says Manish Singh, of the Sadar bazar trader’s association.
“Trade is yet to reach its normal levels. Sellers on e-commerce websites are earning more money than us, and hence it’s good to start plying the online market than wait for normalcy to set in,” says Rajesh Kumar, another member of the trader’s union.
“We have developed the platform so that traditional trading joins hands with it with modern-day e-commerce.”, said Nitin Goel, the founder of Meson Ecom, the company that have set up the website
Goel also states that the platform provides traders in Sadar Bazaar several perks like free photographers for the shooting of products. They also have specialized people who do the listing and cataloguing of the products.
“The e-commerce platform plans to provide the essence of ‘Made in India’ and promotes local sellers while giving them a nationwide platform and maximum reach. Sadar Bazaar is one of the oldest and most popular markets of Delhi that witnesses customers across India and the dedicated e-commerce portal plans to carry the legacy forward”, continues Goel, in a statement released to the press.
The company’s co-founder Mahavir Mittal says the platform uses the drop-shipping model where products are picked from sellers and shipped to the buyers. “We will be making revenue through commissions and fees that we obtain by buyer and seller meet, featured listing, advertisements and affiliation along with payment collection fees”, he stated.